Day 10 — A final tour and then home!

We arrived at Allegheny College a little after 10 am. We walked into an empty admissions office, but were soon greeted warmly by the receptionist who took Clare’s information and then got a tour guide for us. While we waited another woman walked in and welcomed us to the campus.

Our tour guide, Dan — an elementary school major and Dylan fan, was friendly and knowledgeable (except for the fact he didn’t know about Dan Bern). Clare liked the campus — it has a lot of trees and, while not Gothic, the architecture is attractive. The school contains a building that is considered the second best example of Federalist Architecture (after Constitution Hall in Philadelphia).

After our tour, we headed home. Clare was hungry, but said she could wait a while because I wasn’t. Bad idea. We ended up having to wait a couple of hours because:

I got lost

The PA turnpike doesn’t have very many service plazas

I was in the wrong lane for the first service plaza

I didn’t want to get off the turnpike in case I got lost again

We eventually stopped at the Somerset Plaza and ate at Pizzeria Unos.

After being refreshed by food (albeit fast, salty, greasy, bad-for-you food) we pointed our GPS to home. Everything went well until Breezewood, where I should have turned off the GPS because I neglected to look at signs and ended up back on the turnpike after just having exited it. We traveled another 18 miles towards Harrisburg and got off the Turnpike, only to be taken on winding, hilly roads that the locals thought were racetracks. The trouble with the roads were that I’d be going up a hill and not know if it wound around to the right or left until I was at the top. I didn’t want to go the 60 mph that the locals seemed wanted to, so I had a couple of angry drivers on my tail for several miles.

One road took us way up a mountain and back down. At that point we decided we were glad we made a wrong turn because the views were spectacular.

The GPS eventually got us back on the main roads, and we arrived home around 6:30 pm to a delicious meal of baked salmon, salad and mashed potatoes, cooked by Dean and Andrew.

It is great being home, but I would not have missed this experience for anything. It was wonderful spending so much time with my daughter. She’s a delight. She’s compassionate, gracious, talented and smart. Any college would be lucky to have her as a student.

I’ve certainly enjoyed sharing the trip vicariously through your blog. It has also piqued my interest in looking more closely at some regional liberal arts colleges. I think several of the ones you visited could be a good fit for Clare. Thanks for the tour!

Thanks Diane — I agree. Before the trip I wondered if she was going to find anything she’d like, now I know she will.

I liked Chatham — and so did she. Dean’s wary about all-girls colleges.

We’ll see. She wants to visit Rhodes College in Memphis and some in New England. I’d like her to look at Connecticut College and Hampshire. Maybe Ithaca College. Maybe the University of Vermont — but it is not small…

This trip not only allowed us to bond more, but she learned a few lessons and I think she learned to read a map!!